I attended a Celebration of Life service today for a man named Kelly Bohnam. Kelly was a sweet, gentle and happy soul. He loved dogs, word search puzzles and jalapeño peppers. Kelly also had a developmental disability. The girls have been friends with Kelly for many years. Tina and I consider his parents dear friends. Many of his friends from the group homes and workshop attended the service today. Many of them sat quietly listening, crying and laughing (when appropriate). But I kept watching one guy (I did not know him). He had autistic type behaviors....but he also seemed to have a joyous soul. As people spoke, he smiled and when they sang he tried to clap. I noticed someone sitting with him discouraged him from clapping. Having been around this population of people for so long, I understood why the person discouraged him from clapping. We fear the people around us will be upset, annoyed or even angry because of the disruptive behavior. I sat there thinking....I wish they would just let him go! Around the same time a woman stood to talk. She talked about the connection between heart and head and how we need to stop trying to change the behaviors of people with disabilities and just let them be the people they are. Exactly....for all we know this young man, who appeared so happy, may have been celebrating with Kelly. Maybe this gentleman that appears so challenged, actually knows a lot more than we do. Maybe through the innocence of his eyes....he can see the beauty that we can only dream of.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 04:31:58 +0000
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